Chara Gets a New Deal

Sportsnet.ca is reporting that the Ottawa Senators have re-signed their star defenseman Zdeno Chara to a 2 year 9.5 million dollar deal, thus avoiding arbitration.Chara is scheduled to make 4.6 million dollars next year and 4.9 million during the 2005/2006 season. The 6’9 defenseman was the runner up for the Norris trophy last year, and he leads the NHL in combined plus/minus (+92) for the last 3 seasons. Considering what was given to players such as Sergei Gonchar and Bryan McCabe, this deal is more than fair. Most people would take the Big Z over both of those players.

With their top 3 defenseman already under contract, the Senators will now turn their attention to re-signing Martin Havlat. During an interview with the Team 1200, John Muckler stated that he does not foresee any problems in getting a new contract in place for Havlat.